Lucy scoffed. “No, Beck. What you see is what you get.”
He growled softly. “I don’t like sharing the sight of you dressed like this with other men.”
Gesturing to the skirt that reached mid-thigh and the corset covering her middle, she replied, “I’m more covered in this than I am in a bikini, Beck. And they’re staring right now because of our confrontation.”
Patrick chuckled. “Actually I think they’re staring because you were kissing two men.”
Lucy grinned. “Well, okay. That, too. Are we okay?”
Both men kissed her again for good measure, their hands straying around her hips. She wondered if they weren’t doing that just to make sure that all the other men around knew exactly who laid claim to her. Not that she minded being claimed by such hot, territorial, bossy men. Who would’ve ever thought I’d have not one but two bossy men giving me fits? By the time they were done she wasn’t thinking much of anything. It was then that she realized that all the people surrounding them were clapping as they began to disperse.
“Come on,” she said as she looped her arms through theirs. “I want to tell you about the coolest couple’s tattoo I saw today.”
With that confrontation behind them, she felt certain everything was going to be all right. She’d finish out the evening at the ROT Rally and then she’d ride home with Beck. They’d take her home and she’d ask them to both make love to her and then tell them that she loved them in private. It was turning out to be a perfect evening after all.
* * * *
Lucy knew without a doubt that she’d wind up on Austin’s nightly news. She was going to kill Beck.
Their group was standing by one of the exits in the exhibition hall, near Seth’s tables. Rachel and Eli Wolf had arrived a few minutes earlier and Charity had just announced her decision to get some body paint done. Making it clear what she meant, she’d reached for the ties on her leather halter. Lucy bit her lip to keep from giggling when several men, both strangers and friends, including Val and Ransome, watched with interest. Justin pulled her to him and assisted her in removing the halter and she giggled as she kissed him.
Rachel asked Eli if he was okay with her doing the same and he nodded his head, the heat in his eyes for her unmistakable. Lucy felt slightly envious at his obvious approval. The gentle giant whispered to her and Rachel nodded and kissed him. She turned her back and lifted her long black hair. He tugged on the strings at the back of her leather corset, freeing her from it.
Seeming oblivious, Beck and Patrick had been talking to Seth about designing a matching tattoo for the three of them.
The concerts were in full swing at different ends of the expansive Expo Center grounds and she could tell by the dust cloud lit by the bright lights that the parade loop was already moving. The center of the loop was filled with RVs and rally-goers having a good time. The one-way lane would be lined with bikers, motorcycle enthusiasts, and their friends. Music would be blasting and everyone would be partying. Knowing that Patrick and Beck wouldn’t be happy about her being down there quelled her enthusiasm for the spectacle. Being on the outs with her men wasn’t worth it.
Realizing she might not see the girls for a while, if they took a ride with their men after getting painted, Lucy went over to Charity to speak with her briefly. Charity turned to Lucy with a smile as she brushed her long, wavy blonde hair out and then pinned it up with a clip. She stood there confidently, her breasts bare and Lucy was a little awed. “Are you coming, too, Lucy?”
Lucy smiled and played with the front laces on her corset as she said, “No. I don’t want to tempt fate, and…well…I’m not in the mood anymore. We may leave in a little while and I just wanted to thank you for having Ransome and Val watch over us today.”
“They’re nice guys. I knew they’d treat you with respect and make you feel safe. You and Jayne were drawing lots of attention—”
“Oh hell no!” Beck suddenly hollered from a few feet away as he stormed toward her. Lucy was filled with shock at his obvious fury and darted a look around thinking a fight had started somewhere. Her jaw dropped in shock when he got in her face.
Pointing at Lucy’s leather halter corset, he growled, “You’re out of your damned mind if you think that’s coming off. You are not getting body paint.”
“Beck, I’m—”
Charity’s shocked expression embarrassed her further.
Beck slashed a hand through the air. “No. It’s bad enough that you’ve been walking around flashing your cleavage and showing off your legs in that outfit. You’re not flashing your bare tits, too. There are limits, Lucy, and you are pissing me off!”
Over Beck’s shoulder, Lucy saw it when Patrick rolled his eyes and then buried his face in his palms. At least she didn’t have to worry about him getting his panties in a twist. He looked at her and shook his head in disgust and sympathy.
Charity licked her lips, put her hand on her hip and looked at Beck like he was one spurt shy of a cum-shot. “Beck, she was thanking me for doing something for her. She wasn’t planning to go topless, you dickhead.” Standing there completely bare from the waist up, feminine power radiated from Charity as she stuck up for her friend.
Beck frowned and the moment it dawned on him what he’d just done, Lucy yanked at the string on the front of her corset.
Lucy’s voice trembled as she spoke. “You know what they say, Beck. It’s better to be pissed off than pissed on.”
The entire group went silent until all she could hear was the painful throbbing of her heart and the snick of the laces as she yanked them through the grommets until the corset came loose.
The humid air felt cool on her suddenly bare flesh and she hid her gasp as her nipples tightened into diamond-hard points, knowing everyone could see her.
Lucy handed the corset to Jayne and asked her to keep it safe for her. “I won’t be long, I promise.”
“Are you kidding?” Jayne asked. “I may not want to get painted but I’m coming with you!”
Jayne ran to Seth who was talking with someone, while Beck, Patrick, and all the other men still stood there looking dumbfounded, and whispered to her husband.
Seth looked at his wife, saw Lucy over her shoulder and hollered, “Shit! Oh my god!” and clapped his hand over his eyes and nodded at Jayne when she explained she was going with Lucy. He took the garment from her, waved blindly, and in a pained voice, he said, “Okay. Love you, baby.”
Jayne returned, giggling, and said, “I think you traumatized your brother.”
Charity, Rachel, Jayne, and Lucy turned toward the exit leading out to the maze of tents where the body-painting artist was located. Justin, Eli, and Ransome were right behind them.
At the last second, Lucy turned back, fighting the sting of tears in her eyes and glared at Beck, who looked stricken. “Any other incisive opinions you’d like to share with me?” It was on the tip of her tongue to call him a dickhead, too, but she didn’t feel right about it. Doing this was enough to get her point across.
The muscles in his jaw bunched as though he was grinding his molars into powder and she turned without another word and walked out of the glass doors with her friends. Bare-skinned, they strutted out into the crowd and made their way to the body painting tent. Shoulders back, Lucy walked proudly and kept her eyes on her destination, praying like hell that in her upset state she didn’t miss a step in her high heels and wind up on her ass. She shook like a leaf in the wind on the inside.
She couldn’t resist looking back at him, her jaw set. He was fighting Patrick and Seth, in an attempt to follow her.
Beck’s vehemence had scared her until she’d realized he’d directed it at her. And he’d been so wrong. So wrong. And she couldn’t let it stand. No one was going to dictate to her what she could or couldn’t do.
If only he’d come to her and asked what she was doing, she would’ve smiled and reassured him. But he’d gone ape-shit and embarrassed her in the process. His reaction felt like a betrayal. He didn’t believe
her promises after all. She turned away from him before she lost the fight and her tears betrayed her. She heard a shout in the distance behind her. It was a wounded sound. She furiously wiped away a tear before it tracked down her cheek.
Chapter Eighteen
Beck panted as Patrick and Seth struggled to keep him from following after Lucy. He finally shrugged them off and braced his hands against his knees as he caught his breath and suddenly hollered out into the night.
He sensed Patrick’s disapproval directed at him as he watched Lucy saunter away, her long jet-black hair floating around her shoulders in the light breeze. Her lush hips swayed with each step, drawing his eyes upward to her bare back, the sweet curve of her waist and the ramrod straight line of her spine.
Her ivory skin glowed in the twilight and he watched the way men looked at her, some of them stopping in mid-stride, others smiling admiringly before continuing on. He wanted to confront every one of them and beat their faces in for leering at his woman.
Looking over at Patrick, he watched the play of emotions on his best friend’s face as he observed Lucy walking away. He was surprised when Patrick smiled. How can he smile right now?
Beck moved to go after her and Seth stopped him again. “You do not go anywhere near her when you’re like this, you understand me?” Seth growled. “It’s bad enough you practically pushed her out the door. You go down there now and you’ll probably pick a fight with the first man who looks at her.”
“But she—”
“I know you don’t like it, Beck. But you’ll have to accept it now. You don’t come here, pick a fight with your woman, and not expect her friends to close ranks around her.”
“But she’s—”
“Safe for now. She’s safe, Beck. You can’t go off half-cocked on her like that. She will not tolerate it. You also don’t tell her what to do. She’s stubborn as hell in case you haven’t guessed it. If you tell her she can’t do something, she’ll do it just to prove you’re wrong. She backed down earlier, when you got here, because she loves you and cares about your feelings. She’s been talking about the two of you all day. She couldn’t wait to see you, dumbass.”
“She what?”
Disgust showed in Seth’s eyes. “Yes, jackass. She loves you. Or she did. I hope you don’t make a habit of treating her like this.”
Patrick spoke up. “He doesn’t. He thought she was taking her top off.”
“Well he got his wish, didn’t he?” Seth said. “It’s a damn good thing you didn’t both gang up on her.”
Patrick watched her disappear around the corner and said, “I saw her face when he said it. But I could just as easily have jumped to the same conclusion.”
Seth stood in the doorway, next to Val Teller. Beck wanted to hit that son of a bitch. He’d felt the same way earlier when Teller had been walking along with Lucy, talking with her, looking like he owned her.
Teller looked at him and said, “Lucy is a beautiful woman, O’Malley. I enjoyed talking to her today but there’s no way I’d make a move on another man’s woman unless he welcomed it. I understand the boundaries. It was obvious from the way she talked about you today that she cares about you both. All we did was walk her and Jayne to the restroom and to get a bite to eat. Would you rather we’d let her walk off on her own?”
“No. Thank you for seeing to her safety. I understand that’s what you were doing, but I…” I can’t lose another woman I love to someone else. “I hate that I hurt her.”
Patrick put a hand on his shoulder and Beck looked at his friend. “Take a breather, man. Let her calm down a bit. What’s done is done.” He smiled at Beck, confusing him. “Did you see how she just strutted right on out there? She’s something else.”
Seth scrubbed his hands over his face. “I’m trying to get the vision of my half-nekkid sister out of my mind.” He shook his head and looked up. “Okay. You start any fights down there and I’ll be at the head of the line planting a fist in your face, O’Malley. Understand? Make peace?”
Beck nodded and Seth and Teller backed away. Seth looked at Teller and said, “I hope this isn’t a mistake.”
“I’ll go with them.”
“No, you won’t,” Beck said. “You just want another look.”
Val walked beside them anyway and gestured at their surroundings. There were plenty of other women going topless. The problem was that the rest paled in comparison. “She won’t be the only one, Beck. And that horse is already out of the barn.”
“Quit fucking reminding me.”
“I’ll do my best not to stare.”
Patrick knocked Beck in the shoulder when he would’ve replied to Val and shook his head. “Calm your shit down, Beck. She’s probably thinking we’re broke up right now and all you can think about is whether one more man sees her. Do you not see that she is fucking beautiful? She’s like a goddess. Let her have her moment. And you know she would’ve probably gone home with us without any trouble if you’d kept your damned mouth shut. You had to go and overreact.”
“I know. I’m a dickhead.”
“Pretty much.”
“She’ll forgive you,” Val said quietly.
Beck frowned and looked at the guy, wanting to not like him. “Why do you say that?”
“She doesn’t strike me as the type to throw away a relationship because of a little adversity. She loves you.”
Patrick frowned at Val. “What makes you say that? You’ve been around her for one day. Only met her twice.”
“It was in her eyes whenever she talked about the two of you.” Val smiled. “Shouldn’t come as a surprise. Her eyes tell everything. If she was mine I’d tell her I loved her every day.”
Beck didn’t reply because the tent they were headed for came into sight. Val spoke again. “Take my advice and don’t crowd her, either one of you. Let her have this moment, like Patrick said. Watch over her but don’t let her know you’re there until she looks for you.”
“How do you know she will?” Patrick asked.
“Charity saw us. She’s cool. She’s probably talking to Lucy right now, if you’re lucky.”
She’d called him a dickhead. He didn’t hold out hope that he was lucky. Instead, he joined Eli, Justin, and Ransome as they stood across the way in the dusky shadows where they could observe the crowd around the artist and still see their women, who each waited her turn.
Beck observed Justin, who was watching with a warm gaze as the artist painted on Charity’s torso. At one point, Charity craned her neck and looked over Justin’s way. He smiled and nodded at her and she blew him a kiss. When Beck looked back at Justin, it was to discover the man was watching him. Beck was relieved when Justin didn’t also give him a lecture about how to treat Lucy. He realized his mistake now.
Turning his gaze back to his wife, Justin said, “I look at it this way, O’Malley. I show her respect and trust because that’s what she’s earned. She’s given me two fantastic kids and twenty of the best years of her life. The least I can do is let her play a little and be proud of who and what she is. A beautiful, vibrant woman. I don’t expect her to hide herself. Any man here can look at her but only I get to touch her. I’m the only one she shares her soul with. That’s worth more to me than any satisfaction I’d get from some masculine chest-beating.”
Ow.
In an even softer voice, Justin added, “And it’s just me, but I’d never refer to my wife’s breasts as tits, especially not in front of anyone else. I know a lot of men use that word and lots of women do, too, but Charity hates it.”
“So does Rachel,” Eli whispered.
Patrick gave Beck a significant look and Beck wanted to shrivel even more. He’d not even been aware he’d used the word he already knew that Lucy hated. “I’m a dickhead,” he admitted.
The horrible feeling that grew in the center of his chest sucked his breath from him. On the one hand, he couldn’t stand the thought of losing another woman he loved. Then on the other, he couldn’t abide by simple
rules of conduct, the first of which was not being insulting to the woman he loved. And they complained about Patrick’s father being hung up on appearances. He was no better.
Charity emerged from the tent, a smile making her face glow as she went to Justin. Beck couldn’t help but look, and Justin didn’t hit him or anything.
Charity’s upper torso was now cleverly disguised as a beautiful butterfly in shades of pink, blue, red, gold, and purple. All the men admired her artwork, and others even approached to compliment her—and Justin—on the body painting and on her beauty, too. Justin took it all in stride and seemed pleased for her.
Women approached her, asking questions and a couple of people asked to take pictures with her and she readily agreed. No one ever touched her in the busy thoroughfare.
Several times Charity looked over at Beck and eventually, she said, “Lucy’s feelings were so hurt, Beck. You’re going to have to understand.” Her words were spoken quietly. She almost sounded sympathetic.
A few minutes later, Rachel was finished. The artist had utilized the black leather collar that she’d been wearing in the artwork. The collar had a large silver ring that laid at the base of her throat and he’d used it as the anchor, drawing an intricate network of silver chains over her shoulders, her chest, breasts and down as far as her belly button. Her nipples were still clearly visible. It was then that Beck noticed her nipples were both pierced. Delicate silver hoops hung from them.
Beck blinked and shook his head, realizing what he’d been doing…staring at his friend’s wife’s breasts. No one seemed to be bothered, least of all Rachel or Eli. Her husband seemed pleased as he reached out to casually stroke her nipple, causing her to gasp with pleasure.
Beck was trying to formulate the question when Patrick did the work for him. He drew Justin aside. “I need to know something, Justin. What happens when we get together with you all in Divine?”
Justin frowned, obviously unsure how to respond.
“I’ve seen your wife’s breasts, man. When we get back to Divine, won’t it be going through your mind that I’ve seen her breasts?”
Lucy's Revenge [Divine Creek Ranch 15] (Siren Publishing Ménage Everlasting) Page 29